💡 Tutor’s Tip: Don't try to memorize all 150 words in one sitting. Split them into groups of 15, learn one group per day, and review previous groups every morning. After 10 days, you'll know them all with 80%+ retention.
📖 High-Frequency HESI Vocabulary (A-M)
Word
Meaning
Abate
To decrease, reduce
Abstain
To refrain from
Acute
Severe, sudden onset
Adverse
Harmful, unfavorable
Ambiguous
Unclear, vague
Benign
Not harmful, mild
Bilateral
Both sides
Chronic
Long-lasting
Compensate
To make up for
Compliance
Following instructions
Concise
Brief, to the point
Concurrent
At the same time
Congenital
Present at birth
Constrain
To limit, restrict
Contingent
Dependent on
Contraindication
Reason NOT to use
Deficiency
Lack, shortage
Word
Meaning
Deteriorate
To worsen
Dilate
To widen, expand
Distal
Far from center
Elevate
To raise up
Etiology
Cause of disease
Exacerbate
To make worse
Explicit
Clear, direct
Fatigue
Tiredness, weariness
Febrile
Having fever
Flaccid
Limp, soft
Impaired
Damaged, weakened
Incidence
Rate of occurrence
Inflamed
Swollen, red, hot
Insidious
Gradual, subtle
Intact
Unbroken, whole
Latent
Hidden, dormant
Lethargic
Sluggish, drowsy
Word
Meaning
Malaise
General discomfort
Malignant
Cancerous, harmful
Manifest
To show, display
Mitigate
To lessen severity
Morbidity
State of disease
Mortality
Death rate
Noxious
Harmful, toxic
Occlude
To block, close
Ominous
Threatening
Palliative
Relieves symptoms
Patent
Open, unblocked
Potent
Powerful, strong
Precaution
Safety measure
Prognosis
Disease outlook
Proximal
Near the center
Rationale
Reason, logic
Recur
To happen again
📖 High-Frequency HESI Vocabulary (N-Z)
Word
Meaning
Residual
Remaining
Restrict
To limit
Retain
To keep, hold back
Secrete
To produce/release
Sedentary
Inactive, sitting
Sepsis
Body infection
Sequela
Aftereffect
Somatic
Related to body
Sublingual
Under the tongue
Superficial
On the surface
Supplement
To add to
Susceptible
Easily affected
Symmetry
Equal on both sides
Symptom
Sign of illness
Therapeutic
Healing, curative
Toxic
Poisonous
Transient
Temporary
Word
Meaning
Trauma
Injury, wound
Triage
Priority sorting
Unilateral
One side only
Verbal
Spoken, oral
Vital
Essential to life
Void
To empty, urinate
Volume
Amount of space
Wane
To decrease
Lumen
Inside of a tube
Prolapse
Falling/slipping
Distal
Farthest from
Palpate
To feel/examine
Anterior
Front of body
Posterior
Back of body
Superior
Above
Inferior
Below
Medial
Toward middle
Word
Meaning
Lateral
Away from middle
Prone
Face down
Supine
Face up
Abduct
Move away from
Adduct
Move toward
Flexion
Bending a joint
Extension
Straightening
Dorsal
Back side
Ventral
Front/belly side
Edema
Swelling (fluid)
Emesis
Vomiting
Dyspnea
Difficulty breathing
Cyanosis
Blue skin (low O₂)
Atrophy
Wasting/shrinking
Hypertrophy
Enlargement
Necrosis
Tissue death
Stenosis
Narrowing
150 terms × mastering roots = 500+ words decoded. Study 15 per day for 10 days.
💡 Tutor’s Tip: Focus on medical roots first: 'cardio' (heart), 'hepat' (liver), 'ren' (kidney), 'neur' (nerve), 'pulmon' (lung). Once you know 30 root words, you can decode over 500 medical terms you've never seen before. That's the real cheat code.
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📋 From the Tutor's Desk:
Memorizing 500 definitions is highly inefficient. Instead, memorize Latin/Greek prefixes and suffixes. If you know that 'hepa' relates to the liver and 'itis' means inflammation, you instantly understand 'hepatitis' without ever putting it on a flashcard. Prefix mastery is the ultimate HESI Vocab cheat code.